About 30 minutes after I got set up the rain started, so I decided to use my car as a hide ('blind' for my US friends). After another 15 minutes 2 cars from the Phoenix Police Department converged on me after receiving reports of a suspicious car parked in the desert! An hour later I was approached by an officer from the Gila River Indian Reservation Police, Although I was not trespassing, he wanted me to be aware that I was very close to the reservation boundary. All of the officers were very polite, but I think they probably scared all the vultures out of the area by driving out to where I was parked.
The upshot of this is that I saw no vultures until I was driving home! However, there was a surprise event for me when I watched 2 wild dogs leave their pack and trot over to my meat feast! They were very calm and did not seem at all bothered by me.
Wild Dogs (click to enlarge)
Breakfast (click to enlarge)
This one chose the bloodiest piece he could! (click to enlarge)
The only other visitor I had was a lonely Mourning Dove... not quite the carcass eating vulture I was looking for!
Mourning Dove (click to enlarge)
One other shot from today... a couple of Cormorants flying to the south of where I was located I thought it would make a nice landscape shot. When I downloaded it to my computer I practiced a little post-processing - turning a fairly drab, grey landscape into a faux-sunset shot. The process involved changing almost everything in the shot, but I think that the result was successful. Here is the before and after for comparison:
Before (click to enlarge)
After (click to enlarge)
I think that next weeks trip might be to a new place - The Salt River Restoration Project... watch this space for updates.
[[b)decrease their ability to find their own food]]
ReplyDeleteI have to dissagree- wild animals constalty look for food and take it wherever they find it, and when done in one spot move on to other spots. They aren't goign to just give up aqnd die when one source runs out- As well, occassional luring does no harm. I've seen turkey vulturers who frequent dumps move on from the dump and search areas outsuide of the dump as well- it's not like they forget how to thrive just because an easy source is madfe available to them
[[c) spread disease by encouraging birds to congregate.]]
Again- I don't agree- Birds congregate all the time in the wild, and putting lure feed out simply calls in birds in the immediate area which congregate naturally anyways- I suppose if a food source was to call in thousands of birds over thousands of miles, this might be an issue, but I seriously doubt htis is hte case especially with occasional luring
[[a) put the birds in danger]]
I suppsoe if you lure them onto a freeway this might be the case, but I'm not sure what danger is presenterd them when done in ruiral areas? As you said, you lure in birds that already congregate naturally, and they are pretty savvy & always on the lookout for danger- wild animals know how to stay safe, even when in large numbers -infact, the larger the numbers, the safer they are as more eyes means more alert group.
The complaints about luring are overblown I think
anyways- great shots of hte dogs
Thanks for the feedback Naz. I agree with the majority of your comments - luring has been used very well in lots of conservation issues to protect birds, and can be used with the same safety for photography. There are some considerations to be made though - one of them, as you identified, is local traffic. Alaska has had several issues with eagles being lured into the path of vehicles - baiting is now illegal in some areas for this reason. With this in mind, no matter how rural I am, I try and identify potential hazards before luring.
ReplyDeleteWith regards the congregation of birds and spread of disease - the spread of mycoplasmosis is having a huge impact on bird feeder populations. These birds also congregate naturally but since the 90's there has been a spread of the disease from house finches to other breeds of bird. Because a community congregates regularly does not mean that they are risk-free from disease, territorial fighting, prey from other animals etc. Mycoplasmosis is being compared to HIV/AIDS in the catastrophic nature of the illness. The Michingan dept of Natural Resources and Environment has even gone as far as recommending a humane cull of affected birds in order to stop the devastation.
As much as I agree with your main poits, if I learn about potential issues then I try to act with those risks in mind, whether it be to lure conservatively into a rural area or clean my feeders regularly - by doing this I hope I can keep enjoying my photography for a long while! Glad you are reading the blog, it is very pleasing to see some comments and discussion within my posts! See you at the 'Camel soon.